No one can deny how important animals are to us today. They serve a variety of roles – from pets, to providers of meat, milk, leather, and other goods, to working beasts, pulling carts and plows in some areas. Animals were even more instrumental in the lives of the ancient Greeks and Romans. This lecture synthesizes and interconnects data about animals from textual, artistic, and archaeological sources to reconstruct their role in daily life in two important cities of antiquity – Athens and Pompeii. Topics presented include the contribution of animals and animal products to ancient diets and dining practices within these cities; the use of meat and animals as status and identity markers across time and space; changes in animal husbandry practices consequent with shifting cultural attitudes and environmental practices; the role of animals in ancient Greek and Roman cult and ritual; and the keeping of a variety of pets in antiquity. A range of evidence from current excavations in both cities is used in reconstructions.